:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/VXQ2XW636NC6LBT4VUNWVGGI6Y.jpg "The National Army seized and destroyed equipment used for illegal mining in Tolima 1")
The national authorities tackled the financing of illegal structures by dismantling and destroying a series of equipment which served to illegally exploit mineral deposits in one of the most touristic regions of the country.
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He national army in a military operation carried out destroy two dredgers (machines for digging materials below the water level and then raising them to the surface), in addition to enter the material used for the exercise of illegal mining in the south of the department of Tolima.
The operation which was carried out in the rural area of the commune of Ataco in the village of Balsillas, where the activities of illegal miningthe Army troops found there the two dredgers, engines, craft boats, motor pumps, hoses, pipes, chemicals and other elements necessary to carry out these activities which cause significant damage to water tributaries and wildlife in the department of Tolima.
From the army, uniformed officers pointed out that what happened was:As part of Plan Ayacucho, in the rural area of the municipality of Ataco, Tolima, the Zeus Operations Command, with troops from the Land Operations Battalion No. 17″.
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Even if The criminal group to which the seized and destroyed equipment belonged is unknown By the authorities, it was pointed out that this operation ended up having a high impact for the illicit economies that benefit not only from extortion, trafficking and other violent actions, but also from the illegal exploitation of natural resources. .
Colonel John Mauricio Acuña Aldana, commander of Zeus Stabilization and Consolidation Command, said of the operation: “The Fifth Division of the National Army and its subordinate units continue to work in order to bring peace of mind to the inhabitants of the department of Tolima, neutralizing all types of illegal exploitation of the natural resources found in this area of the country.”.
There National Policein coordination with the Army and the Attorney General of the Nation succeeded in intervening in eight illegal mines and destroying eight backhoes and two engines that were affecting natural resources in tumacoNariño, specifically on the patía river.
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“Insofar as this action is strongly directed against the illegal extraction of minerals, the criminal organizations obtain less profit and, therefore, it leads to their weakening, which is the goal of the national government and for this purpose, an instruction to the police to multiply these actions by as many as possible, as a contribution to Total Peace“, assured the Minister of Defense, Ivan Velazquez.
According to the Ministry of Defence, this operation made it possible to avoid the discharge of 55 kilograms of mercury into neighboring tributaries.
For his part, Colonel Guillaume Chestnutdirector of the Carabinieri and Environmental Protection Police Directorate, indicated that “Of the 1,102 municipalities in Colombia, 174 are affected by the illegal exploitation of mining deposits, particularly for the extraction of gold. This is why the National Police focuses its main efforts on five regions of the country, Antioquia and South Bolívar; Choco and Caldas; Nariño, Valle and Cauca; Amazonas, Putumayo and Caquetá; the fifth is Guainía and Vichada”.
The Ministry of Defense claims to have carried out to date 312 operations of this type throughout the national territory, mainly in five regions of the country, as well as the seizure of 421 elements of yellow machinery, including motor pumps, backhoes, dredgers and engines used for illegal mining. In portfolio figures, 846 backhoes were destroyed and 13 kilograms of solid inputs and 368 gallons of liquid inputs were seized.
“This Government is and will continue to be committed to the guidelines for the conservation of life, water resources, fauna and flora, and no instructions have been given not to respect the constitutional functions, the actions of the Force Publique continue“, assured Minister Velásquez.